Ireland once got more out of the EU than it paid in. That ratio has now been reversed: it is now a net contributor.

Yes, its called “success”. A large part of the impetus to the Economic Union, still incomplete, is convergence. We made a success out of our membership and now are happy to help. There is ZERO commentary here beyond the lunatic fringe that we are being screwed by the EU. Zero.

Once Britain exits the EU, Ireland will urgently need a free-trade deal with the UK, its main trading partner,

BZZ: Wrong. Main trading partner is the EU, excluding UK. Try to get the facts right Melanie.

as well as the continued free movement of peoples between Ireland and the UK.

CTA is independent of the EU and has been agreed so by all.

These arrangements are essential to avoid otherwise certain and large-scale damage to the Irish economy.

GDP levels under the hardest brexit are estimated to be 3.5% lower five years after Brexit. Thats not peanuts but its not “large scale”.

They cannot be achieved once the UK exits the EU if Ireland remains signed up to it.

Something which is not going to happen is not something to avoid.

As the former Irish diplomat Ray Bassett argues in this pamphlet “Irexit”, or Ireland leaving the EU, would benefit Ireland’s economy; would enable it to put Irish interests first rather than continuing to subjugate them to the interests of the EU; and would obviate the threat of a post-Brexit “hard border” with Northern Ireland, preserving instead the hard-won “peace process” status quo in relations with the province.

It might be worth reading the reams of thorough , comprehensive, and laughter filled takedowns of Ray Bassets screed. If you want, I will be doing a piece in the Irish Examiner on the weekend in my column, so stay tuned

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5 thoughts on “Irexit… Whats not to like, asks Melanie”

Basset mentions “subjugation to EU”. Does he want to go back to the subjugation of the last 700 years? The EU has been great for Ireland. BTW I have lived in mainland Europe since 1976. All this anti-EU xenophobia is stupid and most people can see through the phoniness of the EXIT campaign.

“CTA is independent of the EU and has been agreed so by all.”
Well, no, it hasn’t been so agreed, and the fact that the author gets this one wrong tends to make one question his other assertions.
The only thing we know for sure is that the *UK* – and presumably also the Republlic of Ireland – have no objection to the continuation of the CTA, but we simply do not know what the attitude of the EU is.
Once the UK leaves the EU, the border between NI and the Republlic of Ireland becomes the *external* border of the EU, and is therfore very much not “independent of the EU”. The EU has already raised worries about the movement of goods and services across the border – the possibility that the UK could import “inferior” food from commonwealth countries and then smuggle is into the EU via the Republlic of Ireland.
But what about people. On leaving the EU the UK becomes a third country that does not automatically enjoy freedom of movement, especially if, as seems to be the case at the momment, the UK also leaves the Single Market. That raises the possibility that a UK resident, not even necessarily a British citizen, could exploit the border between NI and the Republlic of Ireland to enter the EU improperly.
Now, these things can be negotiated, and I expect they will be, although I am not sure of exactly how they will finally be resolved. Perhaps a modified form of Free Movement will emerge, or perhaps simple checks will be introduced to ensure that anyone travelling between NI and the Republlic of Ireland – or vice versa – is entitled to do so. After all, we know that the original intent of the CTA was tro apply to citizens of the Uk and of the Republlic of Ireland and it was only because the UK and the Republlic of Ireland entered the EU on the same day that we have been able to ignore the case of citizens of third countries.
But this is a serious issue that will be subject to the UK’s exit agreement from the EU, and the idea that one can simply laugh it away betrays a triviality and lack of seriousnerss on the part of the author.

Ireland has only a tenuous claim to nationhood!! Well I am speechless. What an outrageous claim. The bitter twisted Melanie would be apoplectic if one suggested that Palestinians think that Israel has only a tenuous claim to nationhood. Israel does exist and I am not suggesting it shouldn’t – Its not a debate I want to enter – I merely use it to illustrate this thing’s hypocrisy.

She also thinks animals are not sentient beings and to suggest they are, devalues human life. I insist that animals are sentient beings and it in no way devalues me as a human being. My value isn’t tied to the status of animals. My being human and a woman could be devalued by Melanie Phillips, however, she is an alien species of human and not my kind of woman so I disassociate from her.